Sands of Time
by claihm solais
Summary: A mysterious stranger appears at the temple, and he seems to know the goddesses. Can he help them stop Mara from unleashing a devastating curse that will effect time itself? And what power slumbers within him?
1. Chapter 1: Stranger in the Night

**Sands of Time**

**An Aa! Megamisama Fanfiction story**

**By: Patrick Nguyen Huu**

Disclaimer: If I owned Aa! Megamisama!, I would be rich right now and sitting on the Bahamas. Unfortunately, I don't.

**Chapter One: Stranger in the Night**

            Rain poured down the streets of the city of Nekomi in Chiba District, Japan. The local temple was hidden in the stormy night, illuminated only by the occassional bolt of lightning. No one was outside, except for a few select people; homeless and beggars, rapists and homicidal psychopaths, and heartbroken lovers. Thunder crashed as if to underline their emotional state, the jagged edges of the lightning bolts reflecting the broken minds perfectly. It was not a night were ordinary people remained outside.

            Yet these types of people seemed to avoid the temple grounds, almost as if a supernatural force were at work, keeping them away, and keeping the occupants safe. It seemed, at times, that the divine had a hand in protecting the temple and the people who lived there, despite all the strange things that usually seemed to partake inside the once-ruined temple.

            Tonight, however, was different. A lone figure, barely a silhouette against the lightning, flowed from shadow to shadow. It seemed to cringe at times, as if tired or in pain, but never left the protection of the darkest shadows. It didn't stop until the silhouette reached the temple's front door. Strangely, the two guard robots that patrolled the grounds took no notice of the figure.

            A second-class goddess with a limited magical license shouldn't be afraid of thuderstorms – especially since it was her father producing them. Yet, somehow, Skuld felt very afraid. This was the worst storm she had ever experienced, and it had sent the youngest of the three Norns cowering behind Banpei, her guard-robot.

            _Jeez, Father must have had a really crappy day at work_, Urd thought. At first, it had sounded funny, but she was quickly loosing her sense of humor as the thunderstorrms worsened. At every crack of thunder and every flash of lightning she alternated between staring at the roof and staring at the phone, hoping futilely that it would ring with a friendly caller.

            The only two occupants of the house that didn't seem struck by fear or awe were Belldandy and Morisato Keiichi. Though with Belldandy, it wasn't in her nature to fear...nature. She simply radiated too much optimism for that, whereas Keiichi believed in her.

            The knock on the front door startled Skuld so much she dropped her teacup. She was behind Banpei even before it had hit the ground. Her eyes darted from Belldandy to Urd and back. Out of reflex, her hand went to her cloak and came back out with a Skuld Bomb. As thunder cracked again, she fidgeted, nearly dropping the explosive device.

            "I'll go get it." Belldandy smiled as she rose. "I'm coming with you," Urd announced, lightning surreptiously crackling around her right hand. Keiichi caught a glance from Belldandy and nodded slightly, then scooted over to the youngest of them and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It's probably nothing – just someone asking for directions or something." He knew it sounded lame, but it was the best he could think of. He was worried as well, but he was confident that the two goddesses could handle who- or whatever was at the door. He turned to tell Belldandy to be careful, but she and Urd were already gone.

            They say thunder and lightning are the wrath of the gods. If they exist, and that sayind is indeed true, then this was a storm worthy of Kami-sama's personal attention. In Roman mythology, this would be Jupiter tossing his lightning bolts while his brother Poseidon stirred up the oceans and lakes. In Chinese mythology, the Dragon Kings were marshalling their forces, beating their wardrums to the beat of the thunder, firing the lightning at the enemy.

            In Norse mythology, Kami-sama and Thor were putting together an orchestra of warhammers, lances, and other arms. The rain was pouring so heavily that roofs creaked in protest inder the constant onslaught of water, and fireworks of lightning began to light the sky, turning the deep night into broad daylight for a mere moment before dipping the world into darkness once more.

            Deafening thunder folowed the lightning, drowning out any other sounds, seeming like the sounds of battle occuring in Heaven.

            The seconds since Belldandy and Urd had left stretched into minutes. Keiichi caught himself glancing at his watch every few seconds. He tried to calm himself down._ Belldandy and Urd can handle themselves. They are goddesses, for heaven's sake! It wasn't even that late at night – barely nine in the evening. Yet the storm had been going on for more than four hours now, and it hadn't lessened in violence. If possible, it had gotten worse. Keiichi tried to shake off the uneasy feeling that was rising inside him._

            A bolt of lightning crashed down from above, enabling Urd and Belldandy to see the shadow of a person at the door. Urd stopped Belldandy an arm's length from the door and called out, "Who is it?" As if to punctuate her words – and the underlying threat in her tone – thunder crashed.

            And, for a single moment, everything was quiet, except for the constant drumming of the rain. Then, a male voice replied from the outside. A tired, worn out voice. "Sorry, I'm a foreigner and just arrived in Japan. I'm looking for shelter from the storm," the reply came in perfect Japanese.

            Belldandy immediately wanted to open the doory, but Urd held her back again. "What's your name?" she called out again. Her younger sister gripped Urd's arm. "Urd, what do you want to accomplish by this? This person is probably freezing to death outside! I mean, he can surely answer you question when he's rested – and we both are sure it's not a demon."

            Urd shook her head. "I don't know...I have a bad feeling about this. Must be getting paranoid." She opened the door and stepped back to allow the stranger entrance. The man who stood in the doorway was a little taller than Urd, his lean figure covered with a dripping brown trench coat. His face was shrouded in the shadows cast by the coat's hood.

            "Thank you for letting me in," the man whispered as he weakly leaned against the doorframe, water still dripping from the hem of his coat as he heaved for breath. Then he collapsed.

            Belldandy rushed towards him while Urd locked the door first. "Name's Tom...Tom 'Tavin..." he managed to whisper before falling into the blissful darkness of unconsciousness. Urd stood at the door, shocked. "Is he...?" Her earlier sense of dread rose again.

            "No." Belldandy looked up from where she ws crouching next to the stranger's prone form. "He's just asleep. The poor man must be really exhausted." Keiichi and Skuld picked that moment to walk into the room. While Skuld cast suspicious glances at the prone figure on the floor, Keiichi looked at the other two goddesses.

            "What happened?" He asked.

            "And who is he?" Skuld added.

            "Now, let's get him to a proper place to rest first," Belldandy declared and cast a quick restoration spell, then she and Keiichi carried the man off to the guest room while Urd and Skuld followed. Inside the room, Urd unrolled a futon as Belldandy and Keiichi laid the stranger down. Keiichi and Skuld glanced at Urd and Belldandy. "Well?"

            "We don't know. He knocked, said he was looking for shelter from the storm. We let him in, and he just collapsed," Urd recounted. Keiichi looked thoughtful. "He spoke very good Japanese, too," Belldandy added. Keiichi nodded and yawned. "I'm going to bed. Good night."

            Belldandy smiled at him. "I'll be with you in a moment, dear." Skuld cast a scowling glance at him. "Don't you _dare try anything, you pervert!" Urd chuckled and watched as Belldandy followed her boyfriend. "I'll turn in, too. No TV reception with this storm going on, anyway. Remind me to tell Keiichi to get cable TV."_

            Then, for a moment, the room was silent, with the youngest of the three goddesses alone with the sleeping stranger. Then a bolt of lightning cut across the sky, bathing everything in an eerie blue glow, and thinger crackled. "Oneesamaaaaaaa!!" Skuld took off in the direction of Keiichi's and Belldandy's bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2: Identities

**Chapter Two: Identities**

            Dawn was breaking, the soft yellow light a stark contrast to the piercing electrical blue of the lightning the night before. As violent as the night before had been, peace seemed to have settled over the district, radiating from the temple grounds. No one knew that plans of forces even beyond Heaven and Hell had been set into motion.

            Belldandy stirred from where she lay, and smiled, realizing she was snuggled up against Keiichi. She could tell from his deep, even breathing that he was still asleep. For a moment, the goddess took in the situation, bathing in the sunlight streaming in through the window, and enjoying the feeling of laying there. As quietly as she could, she disentangled herself frin gun abd git up to freshen herself up and make breakfast for the now five occupants of the house. 

            As she passed by their unknown guest's room, she noticed he was already awake and meditating, although she couldn't quite recognize the style or what he was trying to accomplish, except enjoy the morning.

            Just as she wanted to leave, he opened his eyes and stood up from where he had been sitting cross-legged on the futon. "_Ohayo gozaimasu,_" he greeted her. "Good morning."

            "Good morning. I hope you rested well?"

            The stranger nodded. "Yes. Thank you for allowing me into your house." Now that he was actually awake and that there was light, Belldandy took a moment to study him. He seemed quite youthful, in his early thirties, maybe. His lean figure, now not shrouded by the cloak anymore, matched his youthful appereance. Short brown hair seemed to stand off wildly  and almost covered one of his eyes. But there was something about his eyes that bothered her. There was something about those inquisitive, sparkling eyes that unsettled her, something that didn't quite fit. She shook it off.

            "My name is Tom Tavin. I'm a guest lecturer at the Nekomi Institue of Technology," he shifted on his feet, slightly uncomfortable. "I arrived from Europe yesterday when the storm broke loose. Someone was supposed to pick me up, but they never showed up."

            Belldandy smiled. "Oh, you're a teacher at Keiichi-san's school!"

            The stranger – Tom – arched an eyebrow. "Who is Keiichi-san?"

            "That's me." Keiichi stood in the doorway, looking sleepy, but content. "Hi, I'm Morisato Keiichi. You had us worried for quite a while, yesterday. I hope you recovered well."

            Tom nodded. "Yes, thank you very much." He glanced from one to the other, and noticed a spark going off between them. "Oh, sorry!" Belldandy's exclamation pulled him back into reality. "I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Belldandy."

            "Just Belldandy?" She could see Tom look at her curiously. "Like the modern way of spelling the Verthandi from Norse mythology?" "Yes," Belldandy turned back to Keiichi for a moment. "I'll have breakfast ready in a moment, dear." 

            From where he stood, Keiichi gave Tom a wave and said, "I'll see you at breakfast, then." He yawned and left.

            Belldandy turned towards their guest and bowed slightly. "Would you join us for breakfast?" He replied with a bow, as well. "I'd be honored."

            Breakfast at the Morisato household was usually a quiet matter, with Urd suffering from one of her infamous hangovers, Skuld downing her morning ration of ice cream at an impossible pace, and Belldandy and Keiichi reluctant to break one of the few quiet moments during the day.

            This time was different. Uncharacteristically for her, Urd was lacking a hangover, and Skuld was not slurping down her ice cream faster than the eye could follow. The two were sitting at the table, chattering about their guest when he, Keiichi and Belldandy stepped into the kitchen.

            As soon as the five were seated for breakfast, Skuld and Urd were casting inquiring glances at the stranger at the table. "So, who are you, and what brings you to Japan? You don't look Japanese." Urd finally asked, drawing a chuckle from Tom.

            "No offense, but you don't look Japanese either. Anyway, I'm Tom Tavin. I'm a European guest lecturer at Nekomi Tech for a year in Engineering and Humanities; I arrived yesterday when all hell broke loose and my ride somehow...got lost." Tom smiled at her, and for a moment a spark of familiarity hit Urd.

            _But it can't be...He's a mortal, and I'm _positive_ I haven't met him before. Though she couldn't quite place the feeling, she shook her head to clear it. "Is something wrong?" Tom asked._

            "No, not at all. I just had a feeling of dejá vú," Urd chuckled. After all, she _was the goddess of the Past. "I just thought we had met before."_

            "Maybe we have...in a different life," he replied, still smiling, although his smile now seemed to have a sad, reminiscent quality. It shook both Urd and Belldandy to see that, even though both could swear they had never met this man before.

            Urd returned the smile. "Maybe. I'm Urd, Belldandy's older sister. It's nice to meet you." Skuld then bounced off her place. "Hi! My name is Skuld!"

            "Let me guess," Tom laughed. "You're Belldandy's younger sister."

            Skuld nearly stopped in mid-air, then realized that probably wasn't too hard to guess, and laughed as well. "Yup!"

            "Your father obviously has taken a liking to ancient Norse mythology." Skuld grinned. "Yeah, definitely." And returned to her seat.

            Keiichi leaned forward. "So, do you have a place to stay?" "I don't know." Tom shrugged. "As I said, someone from Nekomi Tech was supposed to pick me up and take me there, but they never showed up, so I don't know where I was supposed to live."

            Belldandy shot a glance at Keiichi, and he nodded. "You are welcome to stay here for a while until you find a place to stay," he offered. "Noooo!" Skuld wailed, causing Urd to chuckle. "Oh, cut it out, brat!" Turning to Tom, she smirked and fluttered her eyelashes seductively. "Just ignore her. Of course you're welcome to stay." Skuld could be heard protesting one more time, "Don't be such a pervert, Urd!"

            "Hey there," Keiichi stood in the door to the guest room. "Yes, Morisato-san?" Keiichi chuckled. "Just call me Keiichi. You are the professor, after all. I just wanted to know if you had some bags you wanted to pick up."

            "Actually, I do have a suitcase I left at the airport."

            "Then let's go get it," Keiichi headed out for his motorcycle.

            Once outside, Tom eyed the vehicle sceptically. "No offense, but how exactly do you plan to fit the two of us and a big suitcase in there?" Keiichi looked at the bike and sidecar, then back at Tom. "Oops," he said sheepishly.

            "It's all right, I'll just call a cab." Tom chuckled. "The phone is inside," Keiichi replied and headed back in.

            "Note to self – next time, pack fewer things," Tom panted as he heaved the suitcase out of the cab's trunk with Keiichi's help. Glancing at the other man, Keiichi nodded in agreement. "Usually, the only suitcase of this caliber is Urd's when we go on vacation," he grinned as he recalled several incidents involving Urd, her suitcase, and a stressed airport clerk.

            "I imagine so." Tom was still panting. "Let me guess, she packed it to the brim with clothes, and them somehow, magically, managed to cram in a few more kilos than everyone thought possible." Keiichi chuckled at how close that had come to the truth. In fact, Urd _had_ magically enlarged her suitcase once. If he recalled it right, it had ended in a particularly embarassing dilemma for her when it opened didn't seem inclined to release any of its contents.

            Returning to the task of hauling the suitcase up the stairs of the temple, he sighed in relief when they finally managed to get it inside the door. Tom leaned against the doorframe. "I'm getting too old for this far too quickly for my liking."

            The other man grinned. "You don't look all that old to me. Actually, I think you're one of the youngest lecturers I've ever met. Wouldn't surprise me if you were about Urd's age."

            It was Tom's turn to grin. "Are you trying to set me up?" Keiichi blushed and shook his head violently. "Anyway, the semester starts two days from today, doesn't it?"

            "Yeah. You should probably check in with the heads of Engineering and Humanities, as well as the director and let them know you're there."

            Tom nodded. "Yeah, I should probably do that. And I can find out where they were planning on letting me live this year, too. Thanks again."


	3. Interlude One: Megami no Kenshi

**Interlude One: Megami no Kenshi**

            The members of the main staff of the Earth Help Center crowded into the room, wondering why Kami-sama had ordered them to an audience. They were waiting in the ante-room to his chamber, the white ceiling so far above them it was almost invisible. Most of them were quiet, but some of the junior members of the team were speculating.

            The large ivory double doors opened without a sound, moving out of their own accord, admitting them to Kami-sama's audience chamber. Most of the goddesses gasped in surprise upon entering the room. The chamber was a large circular room that seemed almost bottomless. Balconies on either side of the floor they were entering lined the sides, and a single platform projected outwards.

            And someone was already standing on the platform.

            "Come in," Kami-sama's voice ordered. As all of the goddesses had moved inside, the doors closed again. Then he spoke again. "I have asked you to come here for a specific purpose – I wanted to introduce someone to you." It was disconcerting to most people to have a non-corporeal voice talking to you; especially if that voice was God, but nevertheless it made all of the goddesses focus on the person already on the platform.

            The figure on the platform turned around and gave them a shy smile. He was a man of mediocre height, maybe a little short for European standards, and a long black coat fell from his shoulders. His handsome features were youthful, but his eyes betrayed his experience. To some of the younger goddesses, this seemed disconcerting, as his physical age didn't seem to comply with the years his eyes had seen. The shape of a longsword was barely outlined beneath his cloak.

            "This is Tomaas Riatavin. He is a memeber of the _Megami no Kenshi_. He is a Goddess Knight."

            Several of the assembled goddesses gasped in surprise. The _Megami no Kenshi _– the Goddess Warriors or Knights - were a legendary order of warriors, each of whom commanded their own element, founded eons ago to defend goddesses. It was a children's tale, and had become a legend over time, as no member of this order had been seen for millennia. It was said that their arrival always hailed nothing good, and that if one arrived, it was a very dire situation, indeed.

            A young goddess with shoulder-length black hair spoke up, "But they're supposed to be mythical!"

            Tom turned to face her, and offered a slight smile. "Well, I'm quite real, I assure you. Unless there are some new developments I'm not aware of," he glanced down at him, "I'm still flesh and blood." He focused back on the bunch of goddesses. "Whenever one of you goddesses is out in the field, we're watching. Just because no demon interferes means there is no demon present."

            "Then why are you here?" The goddess glanced at the elevated platform where Kami-sama's voice emanated from. "Is something bad going to happen?" She asked, recalling the legends.

            Tom shook his head and shrugged. "I can't tell you. But be assured, if something is coming, I'm there to prevent it. I've been officially assigned to the Earth Help Center as a liaison."

            Kami-sama spoke up again. "None of you may talk to anyone about this – especially you, Peorth. I know you like to spread what you heard. This one time, it is crucial not to reveal the _Megami no Kenshi's participation in this." The goddesses nodded their assent, and the meeting was dismissed._

            On the way back to the Earth Help Center's office, one of the goddesses walked up to Tomaas with a curious expression. "What are you? Are you a god that you can fight demons?" Tom chuckled and shook his head. "Nope, far from it. I'm just an ordinary mortal." Upon hearing this, most of the goddesses cast suspicious or distrustful glances at him. He did his best to ignore them, but the young goddess named Peorth noticed. She wandered up to him.

            "Don't worry. It's just temporary. They just don't believe a mortal could fight a demon even to a draw. Especially some of the older ones are stick-in-the-muds." "And you do?" Tom replied, one eyebrow raised, smiling slightly."

            Peorth laughed. "No. You'll have to prove it."


	4. Chapter 3: Visitor from Heaven

**Chapter Three: Visitor from Heaven**

            "Miss Peorth!" The black-haired goddess lifted her eyes from her Yggdrasil access console. "Yes, Chrono?" The head of Yggdrasil administration rose from her chair and went to meet the other goddess halfway. "Miss Peorth, there is an anomaly in the system."

            The goddess first class arched an eyebrow. "What kind of anomaly?" Chrono shook her head. "We don't know. It's there, then it's gone. Like some kind of bug in the Yggdrasil tracking system. We're not even exactly sure where it is. It fades in and out before our scans can get a good hold on it."

            "Any estimate where it appears?"

            Chrono gave her an apologetic look. "The only thing we can say is that it is usually somewhere in Japan. We are running an analysis now to check if the problem is with Yggdrasil, but it seems to be working fine." Peorth nodded. "What does it look like?"   

            "It's a code I've never seen before, and it matches nothing in our databanks." The young goddess called up a screen. "This is a snapshot we got before it vanished." She keyed in a command. "This is the source code we got off the scans. It's a little fuzzy, but that's all we've got."

            Peorth looked at the data scrolling down the screen. At first, it seemed as unfamiliar to her as it had to her aide, then she recognized a couple of familiar symbols as they scrolled past. She entered a few command lines of her own, and the code straightened out. The goddess of roses gasped in shock. _Can it be...after all this time?_ "Have you seen it before?" Chrono asked.

            Peorth cleared the screen, then deleted the file. "Chrono, make sure every trace of this file and other records of this anomaly are deleted. Talk to no one about this. Not a trace of this anomaly is to leak outside this office, understood?"

            The younger goddess nodded. "If I may ask...what is it?"

            "Something I had thought I would never see again."

            As soon as the junior goddess was gone, Peorth teleported through her camera. She was fueled by a hope she hadn't felt in far too many years.

            Keiichi's camera sat where he had put it, on the table in the study. Suddenly, it rose into the air and began swirling with energy, rotating faster and faster. A vortex of magical energy opened, and Peorth stepped out of the center of it. She arranged her short black hair, and carefully opened the door to the adjacent corridor. The goddess of roses smiled briefly at the fond memories she had of her short stay at the temple. She stepped out into the corridor, and..._crash! The raven-haired goddess groaned as she lifted herself off the ground, and, across from her, Belldandy did the same. _

            "Ah, gomen," Belldandy offered even before she was fully upright. "Oh, Peorth! What brings you here?" She smiled. "It's nice to have you visit again. I hope you are well?" Peorth nodded and returned Belldandy's smile. "Very well, thank you. But I'm afraid I'm here for official reasons. Belldandy, are your sisters here? And please, get Keiichi, too. This might concern him, as well." Belldandy's eyes widened in concern. "Oh dear, is it something serious?"

            The visitor shook her head. "Not really. I just wanted to ask something of all of you. But I'd rather explain it to everyone at once, if possible." Belldandy nodded in acknowledgement. "Please, have a seat in the living room," she added before leaving in search of the rest of the temple's usual occupants.

            Moments later, the four goddesses and one mortal sat and stood around the living room. "So, what's the matter, Peorth?" Urd asked, leaning forward. Peorth glanced around once and began, "There has been a problem with Yggdrasil. About two hours ago, we found a sort of...glitch in the system – a recoursing signal that seems to appear and disappear totally at random. It never stays in one place long enough for us to get a good reading on it."

            "Why did you come here, then? I mean, you could have asked any of Yggdrasil's admins and coordinators to pinpoint it, or extrapolate the data you have." Skuld asked. "Simple. First, neither of my subordinates were able to exactly to that, and second, the signal always seems to appear around Japan. More precisely, Chiba District. We think it's zooming in somewhere here. It stays for different lengths of time. It's almost like it knows when we're tracking it – and it vanishes quickly – and when we're not."

            Urd arched her eyebrow. "What makes you think the problem's not with Yggdrasil itself? That it's a...a bug running loose, or something?" Peorth rose from her chair. "It's not a bug, I'm sure of that." "Why?" Keiichi queried.

            "Because I've seen this kind of signature on Yggdrasil scanners before. Never this fuzzily, but signatures with similar code and behaviour." Skuld demanded, "When?" Peorth's eyes seemed to look back through time as she replied. "A very long time ago. And it's also one of the reasons why I came to you. To most of the people – even in Heaven – this kind of signature...shouldn't even exist."

            "What exactly...is it?" Keiichi asked. "I mean, Yggdrasil has to have a record of it, right?" Peorth's reply was a quick incantation, and an image of the occurences in the Yggdrasil control room formed, hovering in the air between the five of them. It zoomed in on the display readouts. Urd and Skuld both shook their heads. 

            Urd pursed her lips. "I've never seen anything even remotely like this before," Urd stated. "Neither have I," Skuld added. "The header code is kind of strange...like it's been garbled. On purpose, maybe. Or maybe it's just the result of the faulty scanning." Urd declared after studying the readouts more carefully. "But that's all I can tell. It seems to have something to do with the Yggdrasil code for time, though."

            "Something like this is definitely not in Yggdrasil files. I must've looked through all of them during the incident with Celestine and Gunganeer, and I never found anything like this," Skuld said.

            "But if it's not in Yggdrasil files, how can it exist?" Keiichi chimed in. Peorth smiled wryly. "It was there, once. Heavily encrypted, under the highest security seals you could imagine. Even Kami-sama didn't have full access to these files. I deleted them, personally, on Kami-sama's orders."

            Urd gasped, and even Belldandy and Skuld looked shocked at the implication that Kami-sama himself had ordered such actions to be taken – to delete any information from the worldcomputer. 

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Five pairs of eyes turned toward the source of the new voice. Tom stood in the living room door, smiling sheepishly. "I...I just wanted to get the briefcase I left here the last time, and the front door was kinda open..." He glanced at Peorth, having noticed she was staring at him. "Uh, something wrong, lady?"

_It can't be..._Peorth thought. She shook her head briefly. "No, nothing. It's all right. I'm Peorth, by the way." Tom bowed slightly. "Tom Tavin. Anyway, sorry about this," he added and left again.

Urd kept glancing from Peorth to Tom during the short interruption. After he was gone, she arched an eyebrow at Peorth. "What was that all about? You looked like you knew him." Peorth shook her head. "He looked familiar, but I cannot possibly know him." Urd didn't press the matter any further, knowing the head of Yggdrasil wouldn't reveal anything this private. 

"Maybe you do know him. I felt that he was familiar when I met him, too. Coincidence, maybe?" Peorth looked up at her. "If we're thinking of the same person, I don't think so. He's a mortal, for all it's worth. He _is a mortal and not a demon, right?"_

"Uh..." the three goddesses looked abashed. "Actually, we never thought of scanning him. He just dropped in one night, and collapsed on our doorstep." Belldandy moved to stand beside Urd. "Well, he is a nice person, and I don't think he's a demon, or even an associate of theirs."

Peorth nodded in acceptance. "I'll run a scan on him, anyway. Just to be entirely sure." Belldandy shrugged. "Go ahead." Peorth reached out with her goddess powers and tried to read the Yggdrasil signature Tavin gave off. After nearly a minute, she woke up to Urd's and Belldandy's voices calling her name.

"Huh?" She glanced up into the concerned faces of her three fellow goddesses and one mortal. "What happened?" She then realized that she was laying on the floor of the living room. "Well, you said you wanted to scan him, and you just, uh, collapsed." Belldandy told her. "Seems to be happening a lot around here, lately," Urd added, snickering.

"And? Did you get a good reading on him?" Skuld asked. Peorth tried to recall. "Not really. Actually, I didn't get any reading at all. It's like he's screened from Yggdrasil, somehow." Urd shot her a sideway glance. "A real mystery man, huh? I like that," she said before jumping through the TV. "Be back in a jiffy," she noted before vanishing totally.

"Peorth, is something wrong?" Belldandy's voice cut into the other goddesses's thoughts. "No, nothing. I was just thinking."

"About what?" Keiichi joined Belldandy and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You know, before I was assigned head of Yggdrasil, I used to work with the Earth Help Center. I came across lots of people, and only one I had ever known barely came close to having the raw power to shroud their Yggdrasil tracking signature."

"And? I mean, Tom can't be that person, can he?" Keiichi chuckled. "I mean, you said yourself it was a long time ago."

Peorth chuckled nervously. "Yeah, you're right. It can't possibly be him. It's probably just a bug, like Urd suspected." "We'll know for sure when she's back," Skuld added. "That's the only thing she's good for, anyway." That got her a stern glance from Belldandy, and she shrugged. "I'll be in my room."


	5. Interlude Two: Field Assignment

**Interlude Two: Field Assignment**

            The call had come in at the Earth Help Center. Peorth had answered it, and she was leaving for Earth to fulfill the caller's wish. Tomaas absently noted that she didn't seem too happy about the job. There were times when she seemed to truly enjoy working here, and there had been times when he had seen her thoroughly despise it.

            _Women,_ Tom mused. _I'll never understand them._ He waited until she was gone, then left the Earth Help Center's office to discreetly follow his friend.

            Peorth sighed. It was one of _those clients again. It wasn't that she held a grudge against men in general, but she had made the experience that callers like this one – old and middle-aged men – seemed to hold a preference for one of three things: power, which she couldn't grant directly, money, which she could, and – probably due to her provacative style of clothing and apparent youth – a night with her._

            Looking around the room, she marvelled at its inhabitant's lack of taste. When the owner came into the room, she put on the best smile she could muster, and said, "Hi! My name is Peorth, Goddess first class, unlimited license. I'm here to grant you one wish of your heart's desire. Here is my card." She gently laid the piece of paper in the man's hand.

            She tried not to show it, but she felt anxious. As she had expected, the old man didn't bombard her with a load of questions. Rather, he seemed to be contemplating, and taking his time.

            The demon sat on the roof on the next building over, watching the scene with a slightly amused sneer on her face. She cracked her knuckles and got ready to interfere with the wish-granting. She grinned devilishly as she thought about the havoc her little virus would cause in the Yggdrasil mainframe and Ultimate Force system. It would be fun, indeed.

            "I wish, just once, to see a sunset with my own eyes and share it with my wife."

            Peorth gaped before she remembered to close her mouth. She quickly likend up with the Yggdrasil database and called up the man's data. _Hmm. Married, three children, one grandchild. Wife is still alive, but he has been blind since birth. _ The goddess was pleasantly surprised, and revised her opinion of human males. They couldn't all be that bad.

            She felt the energy build up inside her. Peorth lifted off from the ground, levitating a foot above it. Every small object that wasn't bolted to the floor or the walls began circling around her in a cyclone of objects, as the magical vortex started building up around her.

            The demon could feel the power focusing on the house before her, and she knew it was time to act. If she wanted to disrupt the wish-granting process, she'd have to move fast. She grinned.

            The demoness began chanting. A small mandala that had previously been concealed with a minor invisibility spell formed under her feet.

            The objects floating around Peorth moved faster and faster. Then, a bolt of magical energy shot out of her forehead goddess marking all the way to Heaven.

            The last rune slid into place, and the mandala was complete. The demoness smiled evilly as she prepared to add her own little program to the datastream that was travelling from the goddess's Yggdrasil uplink any moment.

            Something cold touched the skin at the base of her throat. She froze and glanced down to be blinded by the reflection of the setting sun on the metal blade of a sword. 

            "Trust me, you so do _not want to mess with that wish," a male voice announced. A demon doesn't take threats easily. With the wish granting process nearing its end, she knew she had to act fast. Backing off from the sword, she readied a forcebolt._

            Tomaas leaped to the side as the forcebolt smashed into the ground where he had been a moment before, leaving a smoking crater behind. He silently swore and struck a defensive stance with his sword. While he couldn't afford to kill the demon due to the doublet system that bound the life of a demon to that of a goddess, his opponent had no such restrictions.

            He leapt aside as his opponent fired another forcebolt at him. This one came a lot closer to hitting, and left a bloody streak across the back of his hand. Tomaas swore and the demoness smiled evilly as she realized who she was dealing with and recognized his weakness.

            She started to levitate and threw out more, albeit weaker, forceboltsat him. The swordsman dodged them, launching into an intricate dance-like series of moves, his silver blade twirling around him, moving in towards her. The demoness backflipped into the middle of her mandala as a column of light shot from the next building over into the sky. 

            She began chanting, activating the mandala.

            "Oh no, you don't," Tomaas growled, and tossed his sword at her. The blade hit, glancing off her upper arm. Being a human-made weapon, it wasn't able to kill the demoness – and that hadn't been his intention. However, it did hurt the demoness enough to interrupt her concentration. The mandala faded as the spell went awry.

            Tom summoned his blade back to him and faded back into the shadows as the demon's retalitation strike struck the ground.

            Peorth returned to the floor, exhausted. "Wish granted," she said. The old man opened his eyes and blinked rapidly, his mind trying to make sense of the new sensory input. As he stared out of the window, Peorth prepared to leave. As she went through the camery, the last thing she heard was a faint, "Thank you."

            When Peorth returned to the Earth Help Center, she walked up to Tomaas. He was leaning on a wall, seemingly calm, observing the various goddesses at their posts in the EHC. She grinned. "No demons," she teased.

            He just nodded. "You did your job, and no one interfered. Congratulations." When he offered her his hand, she spotted a white, blood-stained bandage on his right hand. "What's this?" 

            Tomaas shrugged off her inquisitive glare. "Just a scratch."

            "When did you get it?"

            "Not too long ago."

            She stared at him, her tiredness evaporating instantly as she considered the implications of his words. "You were down there, weren't you? I thought I felt something familiar during my uplink with Yggdrasil." Tom looked passive. "Let's just say it was a farewell gift from a first-class demoness," he replied.

            Peorth concentrated and cast a minor healing spell, then leaned against the wall beside him. "Thanks," she whispered. Tomaas simply nodded in acknowledgement and went back to the main area of the Earth Help Center.


	6. Chapter Four: Minor Glitches

**Chapter Four: Minor Glitches**

            Urd stared blankly at the screen readouts that had apppeared on the datascreen of her Yggdrasil terminal. Peorth had been right when she had said that all traces that were even close to that signature she had shown them were gone. _You can say about Peorth waht you want – but when she does a job, she does it right,_ Urd mused.

            She'd been searching the database of the world computer for hours now, and she decided to give up when an idea sprang into her head. She typed in a command and cross-referenced a search phrase. Urd's green eyes widened as she read the file that appeared in the screen. Before she could fully read it, it vanished and was replaced with what seemed to the Yggdrasil system administrator to be a ton of garbage. She quickly purged her screen and used it to return to the temple.

            The TV set began to glow, and Urd pulled herself out of it. She quickly sought out Peorth and Belldandy's rooms. When the three goddesses sat together in Peorth's room, they shot the goddess of the Past inquiring glances. Urd started pacing up and down before the other two goddesses as she thought about how to explain her findings.

            "Well, Urd, what is it? Did you find anything in Yggdrasil's database?" Belldandy finally asked. Her sister shook her head. "Then why did you call us in the middle of the night?" Peorth demanded.

            Urd stopped walking. "I didn't find anything regarding the signature you showed us. But I _did find something. Since you said you couldn't get a reading on Tom's Yggdrasil signal, I tried to open his file. There wasn't anything special in it," Urd paused dramatically. "Except for a cross-reference to another person." Urd shuddered at the thought._

            "Peorth, have you ever heard the name Tomaas Riatavin?"

            The goddess of Forever gasped. "What..."

            Urd grimaced. "I couldn't make out the connection between these two – the file vanished almost as fast as it appeared."

            Belldandy looked confused. "Do you know that man?"

            Both goddesses nodded. "Yeah," Urd said. "In a way," Peorth added. "It's a long story. It's...not a story you might want to hear," the goddess of the past told her sister. "Why?" Belldandy asked, her cheerful expression turning worried.

            "Remember the man who would always stay beside Celestine when we played? The man who would always be there?" Urd sighed.

            "Yes."

            "You remember him as my mentor, like Celestine was yours. His name was Tomaas Riatavin. And it wasn't a good end, either."

            "You mean he-"

            Urd shook her head violently at her sister. "Do you remember my graduation ceremony? How he wasn't there?" Both Peorth and Belldandy nodded at that.

            "He wasn't there for a reason – father sent him away."

            "What? What did he do?"

            Urd gently laid a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Now that is something you shouldn't know. I can tell you he did nothing wrong, though. Don't worry about it." She shared a meaningful glance with Peorth. Belldandy nodded and left the room to resume sleeping.

            When she was sure Belldandy was out of earshot, Peorth leaned over to Urd. "Are you sure? I mean, Tomaas was a long time ago, and I'm not sure whether he really was immortal, or just long-lived." Urd nodded. "Absolutely. There's no mistaking him."

            "And the file vanished as soon as you opened it? That's strange."

            "It didn't vanish, it seemed to be corrupted. It just started filling up my screen with rubbish," Urd sighed. "If it _is_ Tom, hel'll have to explain a lot." Peorth arched an eyebrow. "I agree."

            Before either of them could say anything more, the phone started to ring. Urd floated out and got it. "Hai, Morisato residence?" "Urd-sama? Is Peorth-sama there?" Urd arched an eyebrow. "Crono? What is it?" The young goddess's voice sounded distressed.

            "Urd-sama, I need to talk to Peorth-sama – all hell is breaking loose up here! We've got trouble keeping Yggdrasil running, system resources seem to vanish, and files are deleting themselves!" Urd didn't need to hear more. "Peorth!" she hollered. Whent he other goddess arrived, she handed her the phone. Peorth listened intently for a moment, then leapt back into the stockroom where Keiichi's camera lay.

            Urd sighed and left a note for the others, then followed her.

            When she emerged form a datacreen in the Yggdrasil control room, Urd found that Crono had not been joking. The room looked like hell. Goddesses were running around blindly, trying to slavage whatever possible. Urd headed for a control station, and called up a system scan. She swore as she read through the increasing number of infected files. "What in the devil's name...?"

            "Urd!" Peorth's voice called. "come over here!"

            The goddess of the Past followed the call. "Peorth, do you have any idea what is going on here? It looks like Yggdrasil has gone on a self-destruct code! It's purging its own memory and crashing our system resources!" The head of Yggdrasil nodded slightly. "I may have a slight idea of what is happening," she said and called up a diagnosis on a file. "This file has been infected with a virus. You're right, it _is purging Yggdrasil files – but it's doing so selectively."_

            "What?"

            "Something or someone is deleting all files associated with..." Peorth trailed off.

            "With what, Peorth? Talk!"

            Peorth cringed slightly from the tone of the other woman. "It is purging all files associated with the _Megami no Kenshi and the Gate of Time."_

            "Huh?" Urd looked confused.

            "The _Megami no Kenshi are a secret order of warriors. Only a handful of people know about them. The Gate of Time..."_

            Urd interrupted her. "Aren't they mythical?"

            "Far from it. Think back. There were a handful of them you met. And as for the Gate of Time..." Peorth sighed. "There is only one connection between the two."

            "Tomaas Riatavin?"

            "Exactly. Whatever was in his file when you opened it, has sliced a virus into Yggdrasil. Someone obviously didn't want us to find out about something that's going on."

            "All right. How do we get rid of it?"

            "I don't know. We could just wait till all files are deleted, but I don't want to sacrifice the information unless absolutely necessary."

            "Then let's get to work!" Urd cracked her knuckles, sat down at the command console, and began typing furiously.


	7. Interlude Three: Just Friends

**Interlude Three: Just Friends**

            Tomaas Riatavin was nervous, He could face down demons and evil mages without so much a moment's hesitation; yet there he stood, afraid to knock. Of course, being in Heaven's top executive apartment complex didn't help. The last time he had been here...He shook off those memories.

            _Ah, whatever,_ he thought and lifted his arm to knock. Before he could bring his knuckles to the wood of the door, however, it was opened from the inside. "Oh, hi! You're there!" Peorth smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, but I'm not quite done with the food," she told him.

            Tom raised an eyebrow. Peorth? Cook? Nevertheless, he stepped inside, still wondering why she had invited him over. Suddenly, his nose twitched with the smell of something burned, and smoke started wafting from another room from what he assumed was the makeshift kitchen.

            He tired to suppress a laugh, but only halfway succeeded and ended up grinning, which earned him a playful punch from the goddess in front of him. "All right, maybe I'm not done at all with the food," she sighed. Tom chuckled. "You might want to dispose of that," Tom noted, indicating the smoke. Even as a goddess, after all this time, the one thing she still couldn't do was cook, Tom mused. In a sense, it was amusing.

            "Just a second." Peorth cast a quick spell clearing out the smoke and the blackened mess in the kitchen vanished – with some chuckling and giggling involved – down the drain into Yggdrasil's recycling center.

            "What's the occasion that you'd cook yourself?" Tom smiled a bit as he recalled the last time the goddess had tried to cook. It had been a culinary catastrophe. Peorth chuckled slightly. "You'll see later, mon cherié." Tom stared a bit at the woman in front of him. _I guess giving her those French romance comics for her birthday wasn't such a hot idea..._       She vanished back into the kitchen, leaving him staring after her and wondering what this was all about.

            Soon the goddess returned, levitating plates of food and gently setting them down on the table. Tom shot his friend an inquiring look. "Come on, mon cherié, dinner is served," Peorth said with a smile. Tom chuckled and sat down. He knew the goddess had conjured up the food – seeing that her attempt at cooking had failed – but it looked nonetheless impressive.

            As they ate, they kept conversation light, talking about the latest wishes, his less frequent encounters with demons, or simply whether Thor would be able to drink Odin under the table at the next drinking contest. Tom chuckled as Peorth recited one of the spells that had backfired on one of the goddesses in the Earth Help Center. "Well, there she was, and covered from head to toe in sunflower seeds," she said. "Apparently she messed up the incantations for see and seeds and sun and sunflower." The goddess giggled, and Tom grinned. 

            When they were done, Peorth cleared the table with a quick spell. Another spell had soft music wafting through the room. She stood in front of Tom, and raised to her tiptoes, kissing him.

            _What..._Tom stood there shocked for a moment before his instincts kicked in and he pulled away from the goddess in front of him. "Peorth, what is this all about?" _What in the world..._He hoped she hadn't been possessed or had gone insane. His confused mind raced with thoughts about the woman in front of him, trying to find a reason for her odd behaviour. One single thought popped up. _It can't be..._

            She whispered something he couldn't quite understand.

            "What did you say?"

            "I love you," she whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

            "What?" This was the one thing he hadn't expected, and the one thought he had dreaded at the same time. _Maybe those romance comics _were_ a mistake after all...No, that can't be it..._

            Peorth seemed on the verge of breaking out crying, and he could only stand there, at a loss about what to do. "I love you," she repeated quietly, her voice wavering.

            "P-Peorth...I..." Tom fished for words, hoping that by some miracle an inspiration would befall him about what to say. He cursed himself when it didn't come. Cursed himself for having to break a friend's heart. "Peorth...I'm flattered that you think this way...but I'm sure you don't mean this..." _Great, Riatavin. This the best you can come up with? She pours her heart out to you, and all you can say is _**you dont mean this???**

            A single tear slid down Peorth's face, then she turned away. _Good job, Tom. Good job... _"You don't love me, then?" Peorth said. It wasn't a question. "Fine! Leave! I-I won't bother you anymore. I'll be out of your life then..." the goddess's shoulders heaved with her sobs.

            _Tom, you really messed this one up..._He tried to sort out his thoughts. Tom knew he felt strongly for Peorth, maybe loved her even. But...not the way she might want him to. Not the way that would form the basis for a true relationship, not now, not yet.

            Taking a step towards the crying woman, he laid his hands on her shoulders. "Peorth. Peorth, please, look at me." _I'm going to set this right,_ he thought. _Please don't let me mess up again..._

            When she finally turned around, he nearly flinched at the look in her eyes. It wasn't a pretty sight, the despair and coldness combined. "Peorth, listen to me."

            "Why should I? You have said all you had to."

            "No, I haven't. Just listen to me please and I'll get out of your life if you want me to."

            "Fine."

            He took a deep breath. "I care about you, Peorth. As a colleague, as a friend. You are a wonderful woman, and I wish you only the best and happiness. I envy the guy you pick. But...you're a good friend, and I'm afraid we'll loose that if we were to become more. And I don't want to loose you, Peorth. I'm too much a coward to risk loosing you that way, my friend."

            Peorth's expression had softened during the entire time. The goddess was still on the verge of tears, though. "But you don't love me, do you?"

            "You're wrong, Peorth. I do love you...just  not the way you want me to. You'll always be my frined, my little sister. I love you, Peorth." She leaned  forward and caught Tom by surprise in a hug. After a moment's hesitation, he responded to it, wrapping his arms tightly around her. 

            "We would have lost this, wouldn't we?" Peorth asked.

            "Yes. And we could've both gotten hurt – and I couldn't live with myself if I did this to you." The goddess smiled. Despite her tear-stained face and red eyes, this was – for Tom – the most beautiful sight he could ask for. _Congratulations. You did something right for a change,_ he thougth and allowed himself a satisfied smile.

            "Then, will you dance with me...if not as a lover, then as a friend?"

            "It'd be my honor."


	8. Chapter Six: Urd's Secret

**Chapter Five: Urd's Secret**

            "File corruption at 77 per cent and increasing!" Urd kept on typing, tuning out the frantic voices of her cp-workers. _No way I'm goin got let a scrawny virus do this to _my _system!_ Suddenly, her display blacked out. When it came back on, she faltered; the garbled mess on the screen was totally unlegible. The goddess of the past soghed as the last file vanished from the screen.

            Urd slammed her fists into her keyboard. "Yggdrasil functions returning to normal!" Crono announced, a tinge of wonder in her voice. Peorth glanced over at Urd and shook her head. "No backups. The files are gone."

            The TV and camera flashed, and Urd and Peorth appeared in the temple's living room. "So much for that," Urd sighed. "How much did we loose?"

            "Every single file and reference. According to Yggdrasil, neither the _Megami no Kenshi _nor Tomaas Riatavin ever existed." ´Peorth closed her eyes and flopped onto the couch. "Mind if I stay here the night? I don't geel like going back right now."

            Urd nodded. "Sure." Before she left the room, however, she turned at the doorstep. "Peorth?"

            "Yes?"

            ""How do you know Tom?"

            The raven-haired goddess shot her friend an enigmatic smile. "It's a long story." For one of the few times Urd had witnessed, Peorth smiled fully and earnestly, a sight Urd found as beautiful to watch as Belldandy's smile. "And a very pleasant one at that." Urd grinned as she remembered the quiet, withdrawn young man who had been her mentor, and who – somehow, despite his calm and dedicated nature – had incured the wrath of the gods. 

            _Gosh, sometimes I wonder how he ever managed to draw so many women to him..._ Urd thought with a grin. _If it was a potion, it was one heck of a drink._

            "Urd! How did your work in Yggdrasil go?" Urd snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her sister's voice. "Oh, Belldandy. We managed to get rid of the problem. No harm done." _In fact, great harm done, _Urd mused, but couldn't bring herself to tell Belldandy. 

            "Good! I'll have breakfast ready soon, and I'm sure you two want some rest." "Huh? Breakfast?" Urd and Peorth stared at each other, then at the clock. It was 9 in the morning. _Wow. That took longer than I thought it would,_ Peorth noted. "Thanks, Belldandy," she finally said and leaned back against the couch.

            When Belldandy had left, Urd turned back to face Peorth. "You still haven't answered my question," shge smirked. "What question?"

            "How you and Tom met." Peorth grinned, both at the memories and the lecherous look on Urd's face. "At breakfast," the goddess promised.

            Breakfast was unusually quiet. Urd was too tired to fight with Skuld, Skuld was glancing between Urd and Peorth confusedly, having picked up part of their conversation in the living room courtesy of "Mr. Ear". Belldandy and Keiichi enjoyed the silence.

            "So, Peoth. You promised us a story..." Urd noted. The head of Yggdrasil leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, submerging herself in her memories.

            "A long time ago I was assigned to the Earth Help Center," she began. Urd chuckled. "It wasn't that long ago, Peorth."

            "Maybe not," The goddess of roses smiled. "Ayway, Kami-sama called all of the executives of the EHC to an audience. He introduced us to a man – Tomaas Riatavin, of the _Megami no Kenshi_." Skuld shot a bewildered look around when Belldandy let out a gasp of surprise, and even Urd looked shocked.

            "What are the _Megami no Kenshi_?" Keiichi asked. He could tell it was something unsettling for the goddesses. "The _Megai no Kenshi_ are an ancient order of warriors – mortals, sworn to eternal silence. Masters of their bhlades, their task was to protect Heaven and the goddesses."

            "Mortals?" Skuld interrupted. "Yes, mortals. Ones who excelled at the trials of their lives. Tomaas Riatavin was one of them. We were told he had been assigned to the Earth Help Center, althought at the time we weren't too sure exactly _what_ he had been assigned there for."

            Skuld arched an eyebrow. "How can mortals protect Yggdrasil?" Peorth chuckled. "At the time, I asked him the same thing, whether he was an immortal that he could fight demons." She leaned forward conspirationally. "He said, by giving it all, and doing our best, every day. And he was one of the best."

            Urd smiled. _That sounds like Tom, all right._ "Then, it happened." Peorth drew their attention to her tale again. "What?" Urd, too was wondering what the goddess meant.

            "One day, Yggdrasil crashed. The doublet system was down temporarily, and the demons took advantage of that. They started siegeing Yggdrasil. The _Megami no Kenshi_ were called in to fight alongside the Valkyries. What was shocking was that the demons...went for specific targets." Peorth's expression had become sober.

            "They had started attacking gods and goddesses selectively. What was frightening was they succeeded in crippling or killing most of them." The goddess shuddered. "It...included one of Kami-sama's daughters. The _Megami no Kenshi_ were assigned to proctect the most probable targets once we figured out their strategy. Tomaas and his team were supposed to protect Kailera. She was a prodigy goddess...much like you, Belldandy." Peorth glanced down at the table. 

            "They were ambushed. The Valkyries were all kept in Yggdrasil to guard it, and Tomaas's team got slaughtered by the demons. The few that were left standing tried to protect her, but got knocked out by a lightning strike. When the smoke cleared, only Tom and another man had survived. Shortly thereafter, we got Yggdrasil back online. The harm was done, though." Belldandy and Skuld had paled. Keiichi looked like he was on the verge of blacking out, and Urd sat there in shocked silence.

            "Kami-sama didn't take the death of one of his daughters lightly..." The words hung in the air. "Tomaas got transferred to some faraway place...the Gate of Time."

            "The most strenous and loneliest job...It's called graveyard of the fallen, and for a reason..." Urd whispered. Belldandy's eyes widened. "Oh my..." Keiichi shared a bewildered look with Skuld. "There are rumours about the Gate of Time," Belldandy told him. "It is an important piece of Yggdrasil, it controls the flow of time. Maintenance of the time stream is a very delicate and very dangerous matter. Any number of things might emerge, and temporal paradoxes must be prevented...at any cost." She looked up at Peorth. "And it is a solitary assignment. The Gate of Time is located very far away from Yggdrasil, and assignment to it is seen more as a curse than a blessing. Many good people went there and went insane because of the time flow and the loneliness."

            "Tom got ssigned there as the ultimate punishment, for letting a goddess die," Peorth said. "Then...if he was sent there...how do you know him, Urd?" Keiichi asked.

            "When Urd was born, Kami-sama was looking for a mentor. One who could teach her right and wrong, but more importantly, how to fight. He knew she had demon blood in her...and that she needed to learn to keep it in check." Peorth looked up. "Tom was the best choice. Celestine and I vouched to bring him back. We hoped he hadn't gone insane in that time." She smiled. "And he hadn't. Though he was reluctant to do so, compared to the other choices, Tom seemed the best."

            Urd's face adopted a faraway look, much like Peorth's, as if she, too, were bathing in her memories. "And he was the best," she said. "Never once will Tomaas Riatavin let you down – or fail to surprise you. Even though he was mortal at the time...it wouldn't surprise me if he had found a way to cheat time." Urd smiled. "He said he'd always be watching me...who would have thought he meant it literally?"


End file.
